Hi Liz When Mr Gordon Kells who I went to as a child for National Health Service eye tests became one of our leading eye surgeons in Harley Street he still kept his National Health patients. When I started Honiton lace I expressed my concerns and he explained that close work does not affect the ability of the eye to see. Instead what happens is that the strain caused by the eyes angling towards each other as the work gets closer to the face results in myopia, short sight. Many lace workers in the past would have ended up so short sighted that they could still make the very fine lace a few inches from their noses but would not have been able to see adequately for everyday life.
He also gave me some advice. When the eyes strain towards each other they can produce headaches across the back of the head across the base of the skull. If you get this or any other unpleasant effects stop lacemaking until it goes away, they you can return. To reduce this happening every 20 minutes look up from your work and out of the window to the far distance for a couple of minutes. This will allow the muscles to relax and prolong the time you can make lace comfortably. Of course, have regular eye checks and have your glasses updated as required. When I happened to be demonstating alongside a glass etcher doing exquisite work. He was blind in one eye and was well aware that it had one advantage, he would never get eyestrain from close work. Hope that answers your query Liz Keep lacemaking Alex - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003/albums/most-recent
